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Tuesday, February 28, 2012

The Avengers gets a hilariously bad new poster, but provides marketing insights...

First and foremost, the photo-shopping on this poster is pretty terrible. The proportions are off, Downey Jr's head is affixed on his body as poorly as the various male leads in that infamous Takers poster 2.5 years ago, and no one seems to be in the same scene (here's a great look at the various light-source issues). And, just to annoy me, they went out of their way to make sure the lone female of the group is much shorter than anyone else in the poster. Anyway, this one-sheet again sells the notion that the entire climactic battle scene (which seems to represent most of the film's action judging by the marketing thus far) takes place on a single street in downtown New York City. More importantly, while director Joss Whedon has confirmed that the story will be somewhat Steve Rogers-centric, the marketing is (wisely or by decree) focusing on Tony Stark. Not only is Robert Downey Jr. front-and-center on the poster, not only does he get top billing on the cast roll-call, but he actually gets his name BEFORE the title. Anyway, Marvel/Disney is dropping a new trailer tomorrow. I'm not sure why they aren't waiting nine days and attaching said trailer to prints of John Carter. That film will need what little help an Avengers trailer can provide on opening weekend. But no matter, what are your thoughts on this particular piece of marketing? Oh, and what are your thoughts on the news that the film will be titled The Avengers Assembled in the UK to avoid 'confusion' with The Avengers television series from the 1960s (edit - yeah, probably the infamous 1998 Avengers movie too)?

3 comments:

PocketDragon
said...

Is there a marketing reason why everyone is looking anywhere but at the viewer? And one more marketing question, what does as mean?As far as the Avengers Assemble name, are you sure it's not to avoid association with the 1998 travesty?

Glad you've talked about how atrocious all these posters for the Avengers have been. I mean no effort whatsoever. Its baffling some of the hand drawn promo art released a lot earlier are far superior. They've should've recycled them.

It's quite weird and, combined with John Carter's lackluster marketing as well as Disney's failure to launch boy-friendly franchises in the last few years, shows some kind of serious issue with the marketing department. It's one thing to not try (arguably The Avengers sells itself to a point), but the material they are releasing (static stills, bad posters, cinematically flat trailers) seem to be outright regressive in terms of getting fans excited.

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About Me

The basics - 31 years old, married with two children, currently residing in Woodland Hills, CA. I am simply a longtime film critic and pundit of sorts, especially in the realm of box office. The main content will be film reviews, trailer reviews, essays, and box office analysis and comparison. I also syndicate myself at The Huffington Post, Valley Scene Magazine, and Open Salon.
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